Book It!

Call it a cop-out, call it a cheat, call it whatever you want, I’ll be busy reading while you figure it out…

Tonight the blog is short and sweet; it’s a list.

This is my current “To-Read” list of books I have in my possession that I’m dying to chow down on. Just like my bottomless pit of a stomach; my insatiable hunger for books keeps me perpetually starving! Seeing this stack makes me salivate for a big ‘ol juicy late night shnack!!!

Crucial Confrontations – Patterson Grenny Mcmillan, Switzler

How to Become a Rainmaker – Jefferey J. Fox

Meditations – Marcus Aurelius

We are all Weird – Seth Godin – (book review coming sooooon!)

Leadership and Self-Deception – The Arbinger Institute

Do It Now, Break the Procrastination Habit – Dr. William Knaus

EntreLeadership – Dave Ramsey

The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz

How to Write a Sentence, and How to Read One – Stanley Fish

Permission Marketing – Seth Godin

Power VS. Force – David Hawkins

The Power of Myth – Joseph Campbell

Bhagavad-Gita

Wild at Heart – John Eldredge

Today We Are Rich – Tim Sanders

Boundaries – Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

Tao Te Ching – Lao Tzu

The Golden Key – Emmet Fox

The 7 Day Mental Diet – Emmet Fox

Unless It Moves the Human Heart – Roger Rosenblatt

So, what is on your nightstand, or wish list, or “yeah, I need to get around to reading that!”

Is this a weird mix and list of books to you? Do you recognize any of them, or all??

I should mention that I’ve do try to spend a few minutes each morning with my coffee and my Bible.

Speaking of which – I am in SERIOUS need of tips on “Routines”. Not the natural ones, where somebody says, Oh yeah, my body just wakes me up at 5 am! Cause, folks, my body ain’t like that!!

I am in need of assistance on how implement routines, when they are not natural to a person, and keeping it mo’ simple is mo’ betta!

Anyway, Two ideas for tonight – I like to read and have a tasty buffet before me. And I know I need better Routines, and I’m looking for tips on that… HELP ME PLEASE 🙂

Ha! and have a great day 🙂

Sincerely,

Aaron

Not a sermon, simply good information…

******** AMENDMENT ********

Ha!! This is a little embarrassing 🙂 Because I was so touched by this article, I was moving quickly to the point of getting it reposted on this blog. I made a mistake in attributing the writing to Uncle Stan 🙂 Actually this piece is called “Seven Things You Must Give to Others if You Want to Achieve Success!” and written By 

I will leave the post in place, as I initially posted, and I apologize for the misunderstanding!

Thanks for being here at www.weirdforgood.com!

******** AMENDMENT ********

My uncle Stan took a moment to email out philosophies on life last week (see Amendment above)… Hmmm, guess I know of one place I get it from! He’s allowed me to post it up here 🙂 Are you willing to share your inner thoughts with the world?? Does that seem weird to you? Well that’s exactly what we do here! Enjoy!! And THANKS to William Stanley Nichols – I love YA!!!

Not a sermon, simply good information………..

A major part of the process of achieving success and living the kind of life that you dream of is to give. Many people think that to get what you want you have to take it. There is a universal truth though that the true path to get what you want is to give. When you give, you get. What you sow, you shall reap. If this is true, then what is it we must give?

Give Others Your Honesty. The world we live in has a simple rule that most follow: Lie when you have to. Unfortunately, this may make some people wealthy but it make us humans poor. To achieve success is to become wealthy not only in money, but in character. To be successful, truly successful, is to be able to attain your goals and keep your character at the same time!…

How about you? Are you honest in all things? The problem with little lies is they become big ones. Lies spin out of control. You get caught in one lie and you lie to get out of it etc. In all things and at all times, give others your honesty.

Give Others Your Respect. Most of the time we give people respect based on what they have done or what they have accomplished. We gauge whether or not they are “worthy” of it based on what we know of what they have achieved or who they know or are related to.
But I believe we should have a higher standard: We respect people not for what they have done or for who they are related to or for what they can do for us. Instead, we respect people for simply being.…

Give Others Your Vulnerability. We are taught to “be strong.” And yes, we should be strong. But we have also embraced something that I think keeps us from having the kind of life that we long for. It is an idea that keeps us from experiencing the kind of relationships that would bring deep meaning to us. It is the idea of vulnerability.…

“But, make yourself vulnerable and people will step all over you!” It is true that this will happen. But we have also seen that most people will be drawn to you. They will help you. They will open up to you. You see, we are all broken people inside. We all have secrets. Yet everyone plays the poser. When one let’s down their veil, others soon follow—and we all win.

Give Others Your Care. Too many people are running around this old earth not caring about others. The days of “Look Out for Number One” and “Winning Through Intimidation” are over! Let’s bring about a new day when we can care about others and succeed!

Take the time to show people you care. Listen to them. Empathize with them. Love them. Now, I don’t mean that you have to go around hugging everyone—that probably wouldn’t fly in corporate America anyway—but we can take some time to step back from business and be human! And I have found that when we do so, our business succeeds as well!

Give Others Your Passion. There is nothing this world needs more than passionate people. And people need passionate people. Living in this day and age can be tiring. The hustle and bustle of it all can wear you down and tire you out. Give your passion to others and fire them up.

Don’t just be humdrum—be excited. Give people all the energy you can muster up. And you will find that energy reciprocal. They will get energized and passionate. This in turn will fire you up more when you are already charged and get you going altogether when you don’t feel like moving at all!

Give Others Your Experience. We all have areas that we excel in and they are usually areas that we have experience in. One of the things we can do to make our lives more meaningful and be of utmost help to others is to show them the way through the experiences we have.

Sometimes it will be what they should do: Shortcuts to take, people to meet etc. Sometimes it will be what they should not do: Shortcuts not to take and people to stay away from! Whatever it is, we can be of service to others by giving them our experience and ultimately it will make us all better!

Give Others Your Help. All in all, what we want to do is to help others. Zig Ziglar says that if we will “help others get what they want, we will in turn get what we want.” If we want to be successful, we should consider ourselves servants of other people. What can we do to help them and make them better? This is the true path to greatness and success, not only in business but in life!

written By 

Lisa’s story ain’t no commercial!!

Applause all around!!! The officially highest read post on www.weirdforgood.com now belongs to the incredible Ms. Lisa and her brutally honest and triumphantly inspiring story about “the Turn” she committed to, in order to save the unity of her young family.
In case you weren’t part of the over 100 people who read it; here is the link!

So my blog post tonight not only will bring attention to the success of her post, but I would really like to make a clarification as well.

After reading her story and the dramatic outcome of her efforts, you may be inclined to want to find out more about the Love and Logic Parenting Techniques. Lisa used the L&L system to finally find sanity in the world of single-mom child-rearing… However, if all you get from her story is that we sorta’ kinda’ created a Love and Logic in-depth commercial, you would be very seriously Wrong!

The only in-depth commercial that I’m interested in promoting is Lisa’s moment of faith, her step into the unknown and her strong commitment to sticking with it. I guess that is what we’re all really trying to purchase when we go ahead and order the Love and Logic material,  Dave Ramsey kits,  Nordic Track, Thighmaster or whatever exercise junk they’re out there selling these days.

My point is that we love to buy the Tool.

Love and Logic is most certainly a wonderful Tool. Dave Ramsey’s Baby Steps program is a fantastic Tool. All the dusty treadmills and bowflex machines in people’s basements and garages are excellent Tools to get you into shape.

And NONE of them Work!

On their own.

A tool sitting in the corner of the shed, does nothing without our hands to apply it.

So BRAVO Lisa!! You told us a story that we all love to hear. We neeeeed to know that it is possible to turn our lives around, in whatever area we wish to improve. We neeeeeed your experience to show us the way. We neeeeeed some of what you’ve got, that enabled you to “fight” for your family, just at the moment that “flight” seemed most logical. And if you could package and sell THAT, my friend, your millions would be flowing in…

IRONY embodied. The thing that actually does the work in our lives is not a product for sale. We can’t buy it, we can’t own it, it’s as intangible as it is powerful. We love to be consumers here in the good Ole U.S.of A., but something tells me, it wasn’t the latest or greatest toools that built this land we love. It was a whole lotta faith, sweat and determination, just like we saw in Lisa’s Story…

I find myself desperate at times for that level of drive and commitment.  I have a knowing at times that I’m falling short of my own possibilities. Maybe that’s one reason for this whole website, to create a place to dream, converse and learn about these magical forces we all want to experience for ourselves.

I have no illusions that we’ll be able to bottle, package or sell the stuff that “Turns” lives around… but I damned sure hope we shed some light on the everyday people who are doing that exact thing, to the benefit of us all, right here in the real world.

Thanks Again for joining us on www.weirdforgood.com. I am currently expecting more real-life stories to come my way, for posting up in this space. I LOVE to hear how obstacles have been overcome, or doubts and fears transformed into victory.

Email me at aaron@truenorthffc.com. We’ll connect and find out the best way to share your story as a gueSTARtist. Your Story, is Important. It can move people. It can create something special… YOUR STORY, will inspire someone else toward a great change in their life, and that is a priceless gift… just ask Lisa. We’ve already seen the ripple effect through other Mom’s who’ve jumped in on the conversation.

Soooooooooooooo….

Give Thanks to God! Get Inspired! Grab a Tool! Get to Work!

(Okay, I’ll use this motto, tomorrow 🙂 Ha! really though!!

Sincerely,

Aaron Nichols

 

 

Single Mom Quits Using “No” – Kids Quit Misbehaving; Get to Live

Welcome to the very first “gueSTARtist” post on weirdforgood.com!!

I met Lisa in the summer of 2010 at a luau-style barbeque in Denver, Co. The sun was shining, the burgers were sizzling, and with tons of families around, you can imagine the loud laughter of a gang of kids cavorting around the back yard. Just as the running, jumping and shrieking of the children reached the annoyance level, this amazing mother quietly mentioned a few words to her kiddos and they transformed in front of my eyes into a slower-motioned, quieted and yes, still happy couple of angels! I was Stunned. Here’s the story of how she made “the Turn” into a strong and loving single-parent… Read her post and please leave her your comments on a fantastically honest and open sharing of her innermost experiences. Thanks for being here at weirdforgood!

– Aaron

My name is Lisa.  I am a 28 year old full-time single mom of one boy (5yr) and one girl (7yr).  Today, I’ll tell you they are the loves of my life and they’re what keeps me going every day.  Four years ago, it was a different story.  I adore my kids, and always have, but there was a time in my family where things were so out of control, I wasn’t sure we were going to make it.

I grew up with both my parents, but through TV and some of my friends, I saw what life was like for the typical single mom.   It meant always struggling to make ends meet; being pitied for your situation and going without dinner most nights so there’d be enough for the kids to eat.  When I found myself in the life of a single mom, I lived that way for a while too, buying into the “normal” pitfalls of a single mom.  I struggled financially, with finding the balance between work and home and trying to keeping my patience with my kids.  I was at a loss for how to handle my children and this new lifestyle. Sadly, it was my son and daughter who felt the short end of my exhausted patience.

All this newfound stress and my decision, made early on in my life, not to spank, led me to becoming a yeller.  I would yell at my kids for everything they did and didn’t do. From putting or not putting on jammies to yelling because they were laughing too loud in the car. Taking them out in public was worse.  It was out of control. The kids would be running around and I would be hollering at them to knock it off. Or they were sitting in the cart crying because I’d yelled and put them there to contain them.  I hated being a yeller, but I was lost and had no clue what else to do.  Now, I do love my children and even as I was yelling, I would be thinking to myself “This is not okay. This is not how you treat your children!”  I needed help, but was too ashamed to tell anyone.

People were always saying how strong I was, and what a great mom I was, though I knew better. I knew what went on when no one was looking; what I didn’t want anyone to know.  To me, admitting I was failing in private as a parent, would mean admitting I’d failed at motherhood altogether.  Each time I yelled or snapped or got angry at my kids, I could see the pain I was causing, and it devastated me.  I spent many, many nights crying myself to sleep, hating who I was and what I was doing to my kids.  Little did I know it was all going to change…

My daughter is incredibly strong-willed and opinionated; traits I would admit she got from me.  By the age of 3, she had mastered the skills of pushing my buttons, to suck me into an argument, where she could battle tenaciously.  Arguments with my daughter almost always ended up in screaming matches and tears between her and I. Neither of us were willing to give in to the other.  Because of these arguments, I was scared to death of taking my kids out in public.  I feared I may even lose them if someone witnessed a meltdown in a store or restaurant, because they would finally see the terrible mom I thought I was. So, we hardly ever went out, and when we did, I always gave in to her to avoid a yelling match.

One night, a dear friend of mine witnessed what I had been able to successfully hide for some time.  He watched in disbelief as my daughter and I reduced each other to tears in a screaming match in the living room.  I don’t even remember what we were arguing about, but I remember hearing my voice in my head saying “you suck!  What kind of mom screams at her child?  Who teaches their kid that it is okay to treat people this way?”  I also remember my 1-year-old son standing around the corner behind my daughter, watching her and I screaming and arguing.  In that instant, my mind flooded with memories of an ex-boyfriend.  He was an abuser and a yeller.  I thought back to how his parents treated each other, and realized behavior like that is learned.  I thought about my ex-husband (their father), and his parents, how he treated me the same way.  My heart shattered as I realized I was teaching my son to be just like those men.  I collapsed to the floor, heaving and sobbing, and all I could think was “I’m done, no more.”  I was exhausted physically, mentally and spiritually.

It was at that point my friend, who had been standing there in silence, stepped in.  He calmed my daughter and son while putting both to bed.  I sat in the living room, trying to understand my racing thoughts.  I was being selfish, that’s what I finally decided; my children deserved someone far better than I would ever be and it was plain selfishness that I was keeping them with me.  When my friend came back out, I told him everything I was thinking: I was unfit to be a mother.  I was teaching my children awful behavior and I couldn’t even find a balance to enjoy being around them.  I was certain the best thing I could do for them was have Social Services find them a home with a great mom like they deserved, and I was tragically serious.

His response was not what I expected at all… he agreed with me, and that I was having issues! But then he challenged me; telling me about a parenting class called Love and Logic that had changed his life.  I’d taken a court-mandated class for my divorce before, “been there, done that, SOOO not helpful” was all I could say.  He laughed and explained that if I would agree to take the full six weeks of class and really truly try it at home, he’d go back through the class with me.  I was certain I’d be ruining my children’s lives for another six weeks, but I wanted nothing more than to keep them in my life and be what they deserved.  In a desperate attempt to salvage my family, I agreed to go.

Over the next month and a half, I learned all about Parenting with Love and Logic and it “Turned” out to be the salvation of our family. The first task assigned to me was to pick just one technique and master it.  The first skill they taught was about giving choices rather than commands.  It was an interesting concept, but I wasn’t ready to buy into something so foreign yet.  It was the second week that turned my world upside down; each time one of my kids argued with me I was to repeat one phrase over and over until they quit…

“Love you too much to argue with you sweetie!”

Read those words again.

“Love you too much to argue with you sweetie!”

It was that response that hit me to my core, brought tears to my eyes in the middle of class, because I finally got it.  I truly did love my kids too much to want to waste our time together yelling and arguing!  In practice with the kids, I started out great. Like a broken record, I kept repeating the same phrase over and over. By the end of the second week, I began to feel like a failure. I was ALWAYS saying it.  Then one night, when I thought all was lost and I couldn’t keep my composure anymore, my world shifted…

I was standing in the kitchen preparing dinner…  My daughter walks in…

Daughter (peering up over the counter edge): “Whatcha doin?”

Me: “I’m making dinner.  It’ll be ready and we’ll eat in just a few minutes.”

Daughter (whining): “but I’m hungry right now!”

Me (takes a big breath to ready myself for another battle): “Oh, love you too much to argue with you honey”

I was dreading having to repeat that phrase until I thought I might throw up! As I finished my response, I saw her anger boiling up… Those little fists clenched to the point of turning her knuckles white… Her nose and eyes were scrunched as her face turned red…  Then, she picked up her small little foot, stomped it down with all her might, shouted “DANGIT!!” and stormed off.

I stood in stunned SILENCE… there was No Argument!  She was looking for one and I squashed it on the first try!   It worked! This little phrase that I was sure would make me vomit the next time I had to say it, really worked!  There was no yelling, there was no more me being the bad guy who always says no; it was one phrase and we were finished!

Throughout the remaining four weeks I learned how to interact with my kids better. I implemented effective techniques that replaced the futile and painful wars of yelling. More importantly, I was learning how to properly teach my kids to be strong and confident adults.  I was no longer saying “No” all the time; and when I stopped saying “no” they started to behave!   Now, when we go out to dinner or shopping (events I used to dread and avoid) people comment on how well-mannered my children are.  I find myself laughing and enjoying their company as we grow together as a family.  Looking at where we are today, it is worth every awkward and new step I took to get here.  Each time I apply a L&L counter-intuitive technique, the normal me says its wrong and I should just take control of my children but I don’t want to be normal any more.

I have now applied this realization to my whole life.  I will not be told what I am capable of doing simply because I am a single mom.  After my “Turn”, I started saying “watch me” when normal said I couldn’t do it.  Normal said “you’ll always be living paycheck to paycheck.”  I said “watch me” as I paid off all my debt.  Normal said “you’ll never get out of that tiny apartment.” I said “watch me” as I closed on my first home.  Normal said “you’ll never be a great mom, you’ll always struggle and they’re going to be problem children.”  I said “watch me” and became a Love and Logic Facilitator; to share the gift I’d been given.  I want other moms, single or not, to know they aren’t failures, and we all face challenges as a parent; the first step is admitting it, then getting outside of what we think we know is right and trying something new.

I am no longer ashamed people know I struggle sometimes.  Normal says it’s shameful to admit you need help…I said “watch me” and have been facing and embracing my imperfections ever since.   I am no longer embarrassed to be a single mom.  I do not shy away when people pity me but instead tell them I am not a victim and there is no shame in who I am and how my family is.  This is me and I will continue to live my life making “the Turn” whenever it presents itself.  I will live my life telling normal to “watch me” as I continue being weird for good!

Sincerely,

Lisa

A cool night, the sky is clear, the moonlight bathes this blog…

Calm, serene and quiet, with nothing a but a few smoky wisps of ghostly-transparent thought are inhabiting my normally overpopulated, noisy, jam-packed mind, crashing with idea-collisions by the hundred, second after hectic second… Why?

Well, I can’t explain it really, but how about a short story of where I’m at, and why it’s unusual to me to be feeling such a surreal sense of mental peace.

To date, my ‘jumping-off’ journey into the world of work-at-home entrepreneurship has been a thrilling, fulfilling and fantastically frightening ride. The year has had tons of ups, downs and out-of-left-field surprises… This night being one.

The honest truth is that tonight, my mind is only full of peace and stillness…

It feels really gooooooooooood.

That is why this blog post lacks a fiery impassioned rant, or a heart-shatteringly deep slice into my psyche… Right now  a grey-blue fog simply exists where all that other junk usually boils and explodes between my ears…

The knee-slappingly ironic circumstance is that at this exact time in my journey, I have the least amount of extra monetary cushion, a dried up pool of upcoming work, or even the slightest glimmer of possibility of helping someone through coaching…

So where is this confidence and peace-of-mind originating from?

I can’t say for sure. I am very happy to have it however. Truth is, we are all searching through life to get to a point where we can relax and be peaceful with a strong confidence and peace-of-mind, right??

I know that one year ago, my financial reserves were fortified for a long drawn out battle, and a stingy winter of slowly depleting resources, and I was waaaay more tense than I am today. I know that pushing and striving toward goal after un-realized goal, left me mentally exhausted and twitching with twinges of worry, day by day. I lamented at the painful cracks and crumbling relationships between those I loved as I changed my own direction and found myself solitarily stepping forth on my trek toward the unknown. I had broken ‘expectations’ of how this whole journey was ‘supposed’ to go…

Maybe we’re working toward an answer here for tonight’s “peace conundrum”… With over a year in the trenches, with losing small battle after excruciating small battle, am I finally starting to feel the tide of war turning? Naw, can’t be, I haven’t carefully calculated and executed techniques to create this specific solution in my brain. This feeling originated from a place much deeper, more guttural, someplace waaay dooown there.

Have my experiences in this adventure hardened my heart? Have the challenges that I’ve survived prepared me for this moment? Is all the knowledge that I gorge on day by day finally becoming part of my hard wired operating system? Does the warm and loving presence of Lindsay, my amazing girlfriend, complete me? Or, has the tiny seed that started a few years ago as my spiritual rebirth finally taken an iron-grip root? Or have I slipped ever so slightly over the edge of sanity, and am feeling giddy during the free-fall?

Honestly?? I can’t answer if it’s any one or all of these things, but I SURE DO LOVE IT!!!

Hell, I just may jump for joy and shout Hallelujah from the rooftop!!!

Even if it’s just for tonight, I can tell you all that every ounce of energy put toward trying to become a better me, has been worth it! All I ever really wanted was to feel good about what I’m doing here on earth, and tonight I sure do!

The possibilities from this moment forward boggle my mind. The inspiration that consumes me electrifies every atom of my earthly form. The pure energy of love I feel tonight is like a wide strong river pushing immense force yet appearing calm on the surface.

Not sure y’all, what will happen next. It may be that the chaotic-mind-monkeys will be back in the morning. Maybe all the tension and anxiety of normal life is right around the corner, but tonight, honestly, I couldn’t care less…

I do care enough to point out that without a yearning for more, I would never have tried to push myself. Without my insecurities regarding my own lack of accomplishments, I would never have tested myself to grow. Without wanting to control my own destiny I would have never cared about climbing out of debt. And without caring about making a difference in other people’s lives, for the better, I would have never attempted to call myself a coach.

As of today, I have almost failed to accomplish everything I set out to do. This pioneering experience continues to teach me, and tonight, the lesson is nothing new. It’s all about the journey, and not about the destination. Thank You God, for supplying me with the tools, the drive and yes even the road less traveled, to travel upon. I’ll start up again tomorrow with my sights set on the horizon. It’s worked to get me this far, there ain’t no way I’m givin’ up now!

Thank YOU for reading each one of these words. Your attentive readership is fuel for my engines, and if these messages connect with you in any way, I’d love to hear how. Please comment below and share your story, it is every bit as important as the one I just wrote 858 words about. With all my love, till next week, g’bye 🙂

Sincerely,

Aaron Nichols

Is it time for Chautauqua days?

I read stuff – I learn stuff – I blog about it here – If you’re reading this, well then THANKS!

Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig was cracked open at bedtime last night. Location? My place. Reason? Why not. Says it’s about Zen and Motorcycle Stuff… Good enough for me! Not to mention I’m pretty sure it’s a modern classic, although that is the extent of my knowledge, till I finish it off 🙂

But, It began with a road-trip story, (which I loved), then all of a sudden, Page 7 surprised me with a word. A blast from my little-kid-in-Ottawa,-Kansas-past. Not only was this just about the last word I expected to find in these pages, I had to laugh at how quickly it came and how poignant it felt to me.  The word was “Chautauqua.”

Immediately, I remembered some sort of a carnival-like gathering and outdoor festival in shady Forest Park that happened in the summertime in my hometown. It’s been a long time since the Ottawa, Kansas Chautauqua Days, maybe someone reading this will know. Another thing I didn’t know was the explanation that the author Robert gave in the paragraph following.

I’ll quote now from the book. “I would like to use the time to talk in some depth about things that seem important.
What is in mind is a sort of Chautauqua-that’s the only name I can think of for it-like the traveling tent-show Chautauquas that used to move across America, this America, the one that we are now in, an old-time series of popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer”

Wow. Now to be honest, the rest of my intensive Chautauqua research was a quick skimming of its Wikipedia page, but I really didn’t want to do anymore. The line that I bolded in that last paragraph is enough to inspire my mind…

Wow.

How wonderful would it be to attend a Chautauqua, just like explained here. In person, in our hometown, amongst  people, that we live with and around. To be instructed and improved morally (edified), to be entertained, to have our minds improved, while learning culture and experiencing enlightenment! I think that sounds Awesome!

Can you think of anything like this that exists today?

I have plenty of opportunities to be entertained through the constant flow of mass media. The radio, Television and Interweb all are full of entertainment! However, mind-garbage and brain-trash usually get more airplay than morally upright or enlightening content…

I have thoroughly enjoyed the TED talks that are free videos to watch online that cover the bases of improving our minds and learning. Although, that happens on the computer and It’s been an extremely rare occurance that a TED talk has come up in casual conversation with a  real-live person…

On Sundays, I appreciate the interaction of uplifting people and opportunity to be inspired when worshiping at Westminister Presbyterian Church. That is certainly a real-live event, and it does include real humans, however the Chautauqua seems a much more public event that encompasses a wide cross-section people of the region, not just our congregation…

We do have open events in the community that draw people out and about. We have one of the most popular in our area coming next weekend. The Ol’ Marais River Run Car Show. We will have lots of folks showing up to see the vintage pre-’72 hot-rods and classics. People will probably feel enlightened there, when they see the gleaming results of a labor-of-love frame-off restoration of a their favorite childhood Hot-Wheel Car. I doubt however, that the depth of their own God-given abilities and powers of achievement  will be the message of the day…

Okay, So if this is where we’re at and the Chautauquas are an extinct idea, then I’ll just put this out there. I love the idea of a “series of popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer”. So when talking to me, either online, by cell phone or in person, feel free to bring up subjects that may edify and entertain, improve my mind and bring culture and enlightenment to my thoughts. I would really love that!!

I’ll try to bring it up more often myself 🙂

This is funny as how it relates to my recent Facebook usage. In the last month or so, I’ve been devoting my Facebook status updates to a constant stream of quotes from great thinkers that inspire curiosity, pronounce wisdom or explain human nature as it relates to success… For those of you who are on Facebook, you already know that everyone chooses to utilize it’s capabilities in their own way. To put it nicely, not everything you read on there is “uplifting” 🙂

So, I decided to convert my page to one that is. It’s my Mini-Online-Digital-“Chatauqua” held by men and women much wiser than me, who left quote-able tidbits for us to learn from and be entertained and enlightened by… I guess… now that I found out last night what that word means…

And I’m glad I did 🙂

Now, onto more pages and more things to learn, maybe even about Zen or Motorcycle Maintenance, who knows!

Thanks for being here on weirdforgood.com. Your readership & feedback is appreciated as always 🙂

Sincerely,

Aaron

Crap-Eaters Unite! You’re gonna be pissed at me for this one!

The heavy shining steel blade of an imaginary sword in my two hands was the image that came to mind this morning. I was explaining to Lindsay the background behind the following sentence, that I wrote, on someone else’s blog, as a comment yesterday:

“I hope your audience is whittled by the edge of this post to a sharp and effective poking point that stabs an ouchie in the ass of the over-bloated crap-eaters all lining up for the next sale at Junk-You-Don’t-Need-Mart to impress the Cul-de-Sac-Neighbor-Clan. ”

Whaddya think of that??

It was in response to a blog by Kevin Miller, who is founder/CEO of Free Agent Academy, of which I’m a member. He wrote a very polarizing post about his personal gut reaction to the way:  “our culture and society hands out plates of crap and most folks say ‘thank you’. I just can’t. It’s crap. It smells and makes me throw up in my mouth a little bit. It comes in the form of mindless media consumption and grotesque consumerism addiction and the worst to me, giving away our inheritance for a scrap of crap, or in other words…giving away our God-given calling for a lousy job to pay the bills so we can buy dumb ass stuff that is nothing close to an actual necessity.”

Hmm, this post could easily be found right here at weirdforgood.com, and I wanted him to know that. So I commented below his writing by picking up my own heavy keyboard-shaped sword and delivered a one sentence slice into the heart of the “normal crowd”.

I will fully admit, I lived as a crap-eater for many years. I now know what health-food is like. I won’t go back. But I have compassion for the Normals and feel compelled to try to wake them up, maybe you can help?

With this writing stuff and with my life, I’m really starting to ride the wicked, scalpel-thin edge that separates joy from stupidity, opinion from preaching, passion from anger, inspiration from conviction and genius from insanity.

Can YOU feel that?

I know you can. This is one plain-as-jane reason why: Last week’s post, One that I felt completely energized by, One that immediately sparked a wonderful reaction from an enthusiastic coaching buddy Jon White… had a deafeningly quiet “crickets-chirping” response thereafter until my wonderful Grandmother Carol Smell finally chimed in 🙂

Well, If you read last weeks post, and you didn’t want to comment with your fantastic free-form dreams of what you would do as a debt-free multi-millionaire, then I guess this post may be one of your last to read here. Cause that edge, that sorta thing, is what this site is allllllll about baby!

We are not only gonna DREAM BIG DREAMS. We are gonna GO DEEP and GET SPIRITUAL TOO!! And we want people like YOU to put in your two cents. We want to build up the number of non-crap-eaters! We want to encourage “The Turn”!!

That Razors Edge will now look more like your third grade math mistake. Thick smudged lines of dark number-two pencil, smeared and mushed back and forth by a purple-cow-shaped eraser that leaves more gunk behind than it picks up. We are gonna blurr that edge. That’s the direction we’re headed here!

So! Still Here?? K Good.

Tuesday Night, Two Days Ago – I found out for the first time in my Life that there is a book in the Bible named Joel.

Joel is my Dad’s name. Joel Sterling Nichols, my Dad, was in a boating accident with friends in the early summer of 1983 and drowned. I was four years old when my life left behind forever any chance of becoming “Normal”.

I cannot tell you that I have been some stern student of The Word for many years. In fact this spiritual awakening in me, is very young. But, I’m glad it’s here and now you’ll know why… this kinda spiritually goose-bumpy stuff happens to me every day.

I found the book of Joel on page 1352 of my NIV Study Bible.

It’s really Short. Just like the length of time I spent with him here in the physical world. Hmmm….

The “Study Notes Introduction” explains that his father “Pethuel” is unknown. In my world, my Dad’s Dad was unknown to me, he passed just after I was born. Another coincidence…

This book of the Bible, written by Joel, dates between the late seventh and early fifth century B.C. has exactly THREE chapters ending in TWENTY-ONE verses.

Anyone know why 3:21 would be an important number to me?

My Birthday.

Folks, this life of ours is freaking chocked-full of awesome surprises, Real-Life spiritual hints, miracles and fantastic opportunities. Lets pick up our vision out of the plate-O’-crap that the “normal world” is currently slopping away at, and give some thanks for its divinity. Just as I said last week, God didn’t create us to enjoy Mediocrity. It’s too bad that, since we’ve been fed this garbage so long it doesn’t even taste bad anymore, that now I’m the weird one for thinking that we were created with unlimited potential.

The crap-eater mentality is not so much of a mistaken choice of diet, but a feeding frenzy on a much too-small piece of imagined possibility. As Kevin said in his post “Trade in the crap for God’s feast.”

You can think what you want of this post. I may end up here all by my lonesome pounding these keys and slashing away with my typographical blade, but I can tell you one thing. I feel the power of the almighty working through me at times like this, and I know you’ve felt it too. Isn’t it time we celebrate just a little bit and dare to DREAM something BIG.

I’m ending with a question today that my Friend Jacob Sokol Posted on his website Sensophy.com back in December of 2010 ” What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you couldn’t fail? And of course, why?”

Let’s try it again this week. Post up a comment below with your answer. Join in the conversation! I know how many people read this blog every week and there are more of you out there than you think 🙂 HA! This is our little place to get weird, so go ahead, it’s safe here on www.weirdforgood.com… or please go back to the crap-buffet. They’re loading it up right now and I’m sure you won’t want to miss that!

With My Heart Full of Crazy Love for You!

– Aaron

” What one great thing would you dare to dream if you knew you couldn’t fail? And of course, why?”