Taking a cue* from Jon, I’ve been plowing through Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig. It’s been mostly plane and train reading, which is perfect. It’s the kind of book that necessitates periodic interruptions (and the occasional nap). And since it’s about rethinking the way we find balance in our lives, it’s also the kind of book that’ll probably come up on OpSLED more than once.

One very small point covered is that when stuck, just look at the problem. Don’t try to solve the problem, just look at the whole scenario. Not, “what is wrong,” but just “what is it?” If you skip this step, you’ll try to solve a problem that wasn’t broken, or apply a solution that fixes the symptom but not the problem. Or you might find out that there isn’t actually a problem at all: It’s not supposed to work that way**.

So how is this relevant? Well, it turns out I might be a cat person after all.

My fiancé (yes, that is still fun to say, even if it annoys all sorts of Seinfeldians out there) recently brought up getting a cat. My initial response was that I’m really not a cat person; I’m a dog person. So this immediately led to thoughts about how getting a dog isn’t really feasible due to work/travel/etc. So getting a pet just wasn’t possible at this time. Unless it was the famous goat riding jousting monkey that we’ve been talking about since high school.

And I had the obligatory thoughts about how cats are sinister and dastardly and just generally the Iago of the animal kingdom. All the things that a dog person would naturally think.

Of course, she had arguments on the flip side: cats are cute and fuzzy and cleaner, etc. But I wasn’t biting (unlike an ungrateful cat).

But the reading got me thinking, and I started to identify why I wasn’t a “cat person.” I couldn’t think of a reason. It’s not that the critters don’t have their drawbacks. That was never the problem; dogs can be a pain in the ass too. It’s just that I’d set up a giant divide for myself, and it was a crappy divide. It cut out 50% of the fuzzball pet joy. So I’ve divided to chuck it. And now there’s twice as many pets out there to make us happy! Great!

* so I just found out that the correct spelling is the billiards cue, not the “get in line” queue. Opsleds, big and small!

** This reminds me of selling cars. I had an older couple come in insisting that new brakes didn’t work because when they drove the breaks were always shuddering and thumping, and they’d had this problem in multiple newer cars. It turned out that they were engaging the anti-lock breaks nearly every time they came to a stop. I had to explain that (1) the shuddering is actually helping you stop, (2) it doesn’t mean that you should take your foot off the brake, and (3) probably you should drive a little less aggressively.
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Posted by Mike | No Comments »

This post is kind of a personal thought or experiences of Being Dumb that I had after I read an amazing blog related to Not Being Dumb by a man named Russ St. Hilaire, who also happens to be my martial arts teacher and more. His blog is called Don’t Be Dumb. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for tips, motivation, and a “real” way of thinking that applies to all aspects of your life. Give it a read.

My personal experiences fighting being dumb.
Ever since I was born, I’ve been thrown into the regiment of living my life a certain way. Go to School, Get a Job, Get Married, Buy a House, Have Kids, etc. The “American Dream” as some of you might say. In fact, my Mother used to say that exact phrase to me to a certain degree. She was TRYING to put me on the path of the cookie cutter life. They soon realized I was different and did things a different way. I didn’t go to college, I didn’t have schooling on Web Design or Marketing, yet that is one of my passions and professions. I was never interested in traditional sports or little league, nor much of an athlete when younger, yet know I consider myself a good athlete and fighter. I could go on, but the point is that I am probably more successful in “life” then I would have been if I just followed “the path”. One of my favorite sayings from my other site: Fighting Techniques, Training and Fight Videos - Fightauthority.com is “Find your Path!” - meaning that everyone should find their own path in life and / or martial arts (it is a martial arts site). A path that is their own, not one laid of out for you.

The funny thing now is that in a way, I have almost done what my Mother always wanted. I did get a job, got married, bought the house, got Dogs (they’re my kids for now). But the way I see it, it was done my way. I got the job of my dream as well as have some other great side jobs and personal business that is also blooming. I married the woman of my dreams. The girl I was in love with when I since was 16 (I’ll share that story another time). And buying a house….well we all need a place to live and I LOVE my house. Lastly my dogs, you’ll all soon find out that I am big animal lover, and my dogs are a vital part of my life. So the end result was something that my parents always wanted, but I did it my way and I am truly happy.

One thing I would like to improve on, which I realized after reading some posts on Don’t Be Dumb is that I should real consider trying to help others more. Either financially, volunteering, etc. Sometimes I almost feel selfish, others times I don’t know how I would be able to do it. But after reading some thoughts and posts there, I know that should be part of my life.

Sucking Less at: Being Dumb
Sucking at: Not helping others.

Again, Thank you Don’t Be Dumb for inspiring some interesting thoughts and life consideration. Please give this blog a read. It is FULL of amazing information.

Posted by Matt Bryers | No Comments »