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I used to be in charge of the web systems at a multi-campus university and ran into an interesting phenomenon on a regular basis.  Over the years we implemented several system upgrades that allowed more administrative staff and faculty to participate in managing the content on the university’s enormous collection of web sites.  I spent a lot of time developing and delivering the training to faculty and staff and noticed that many of the faculty had difficulty . . .

It seemed that, more often than not, the faculty who were PhDs struggled the most to master the simple system used to contribute content to the web site.  It was as if many of these individuals had spent enormous amounts of time and energy achieving high educational distinctions and then decided (maybe unconsciously) that they were finished and had learned all that they needed to.  They behaved as if the capacity meters on their brains were at full and they couldn’t absorb another drop of information.

Just to be clear, I don’t think all PhDs are incapable of learning or have settled on complacency as a way of being.  Some of the most brilliant minds this world has ever seen are PhDs who have contributed greatly to our society and there’s no doubting the importance of education.  On the other hand and equally true, some of the most brilliant minds have also been high school drop outs, yet still left their mark on the world.  But, I digress.

The pattern that I repeatedly encountered led me to believe that some people (PhDs and otherwise) kinda turn themselves off once they’ve achieved something important to them, as if that’s all they were capable of.  They’ve settled into a nice comfortable spot just beyond the finish line and decided that they’re done runnin’.

The opposite of settling into a complacent groove is to carve a new one in growth . . . using that new groove as a foot hold for carving the next.  So, how do you stay on a path of growth?  How do you get unstuck?

Growth is a journey, not a destination

A great place to start is to raise your awareness of the existence of complacency in your life.  We all get complacent at times and frankly, it’s probably pretty normal.  I think the real danger comes from habitualizing that mindset.

Here are a few things you can think about if you feel like you’re stuck in the complacency rut:

1. Master Gardener
   Imagine that you’re caring for an indoor plant.  STOP!!   Wait a second!  You might be the type who’s botanically challenged and can kill bamboo!  Instead, imagine that you’re a master gardener caring for an indoor plant.  Periodically you check on it, trim it, water it, give it a little fertilizer, transfer it to a bigger pot when needed, move it into the sun and even talk to it.  You do all of these things because you know that you are facilitating its growth.  You also know that if you discontinue this nurturing routine, your plant will wither and die.  Now imagine that the plant is you.  Do you nurture and support your own growth in multiple ways?  Who do you treat better, yourself or the imaginary plant?
2. Energy Flows
   Everything that grows needs fuel . . . from a blade of grass, to your waistline, to the hole in the ozone layer.  The question is, what growth are you fueling in your life?  If you’re not sure, ask yourself if the most important aspects of your life are growing in the direction you want.  If the answer to that question isn’t a resounding “YES”, then remember that energy flows where attention goes.  If the things most important to you in life aren’t growing in the direction you want, you may not be focusing adequate attention on them.  You may be focused on the things you don’t want instead of the things you do want.  That thought pattern presumes that the universe operates on a principle of exclusion . . . that focusing on the things you don’t want will somehow exclude them from your life.  Instead, try this experiment:  Presume for one month that the universe is based on inclusion and focus on the things and experiences that you do want in your life.  This shift in attention will shift your energy and ultimately the most important aspects of your life will grow more and more in the direction you want.
3. No How
   When was the last time that you took on a challenge that you had no earthly idea how to accomplish?  Be honest now!  Our minds are pretty powerful and can lay out a plan to do most anything in a split second.  When you come across an opportunity that your brain can’t wrap its thinking around, you’ll have to strain your own potential and grow to achieve it.  I remember when I first started my business in 1997.  It began as a computer consulting company, which meant I was basically a freelance tech support guy.  Most of my clients needed help setting up their computers, installing hardware upgrades or getting software instruction from a patient person.  One day a prospective client asked me if I could build him a web site.  My response was an immediate “Sure!”.  I had never built a web site before and frankly had no idea how to do it, but dammit, I was sure going to figure it out!  I grew from and enjoyed that challenge so much that soon after, I only offered web design related services.  Your job is the “what” not the “how”.  Focus your attention on “what” you want to accomplish and the “how” will present itself. 

Just remember that growth isn’t an exercise to overcome or expel your imperfections, but rather a process of expanding the positivity that already exists within you.

Here’s to your growth journey!

"Each day beckons you to walk on the road of self-transcendence. When we transcend ourselves we do not compete with others, we compete only with our previous achievements. And each time we surpass our achievements, we get joy… Life is nothing but a perpetual possibility."

- Sri Chinmoy
Indian Spiritual Teacher and Philosopher

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Let’s face it, sometimes relationships don’t work because there are some differences that cannot be resolved.

• Different values related to key relationship issues (monogamy, marriage, parenting, etc.)
• Different values related to key world issues (politics, justice, race, etc.)
• Different values related to key household issues (finances, cleaning, lifestyle, etc.)
• Or it’s some weird combination of all three. 

But sometimes, relationships don’t work out, simply because that cliché is true.  If you dig a little deeper you may find that in some scenarios, the phrase might read best as, “It’s not you, it’s youth”. 

It wouldn’t be news to anyone if I told you that there were some 30, 40 & 50 year old children runnin’ loose all over the planet.  I’m not trying to judge any one, but there’s plenty of evidence that maturity and age don’t travel on synchronous, parallel tracks.  I’ve met immature people all across the age spectrum.

Sometimes that inner adolescent in all of us, grabs a hold of the decision making reigns and interesting things happen.  I certainly can recall ending a couple of relationships in ways that still make me cringe!  I’ll spare you the details to protect the innocent!

So if you’ve heard those fateful words, don’t fret!  Live your life and know that the only opinion of you that truly matters is your own.

"Opinions are the cheapest commodities on earth."

- Napoleon Hill
American Author

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So far I’m realizing that I’m having a little trouble distinguishing passions from goals related to passions.  It’s still early . . . I’ll keep you posted.

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Society bombards us with so many conflicting messages like be skinny, super size your value meal and take this drug for this problem so that you can introduce these side effects into your life.  So how can we seriously focus on health with all of the distractions and misinformation?  Kind of confusing isn’t it?

This article takes an in depth look at ten things you can do to tilt the healthiness scale in your favor.

1. Do Something That Regularly Raises Your Heart Rate

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According to the American Heart Association, lack of regular exercise is one of the leading risk factors for heart disease.  Why is this important to note?  Well, according to the CDC (that bastion of happiness we talked about in the beginning), heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States and in many countries around the world. If the stats on that web site don’t knock you on your butt, nothing will.

So what can we do to prevent heart disease?  One good choice is to get your heart rate up on a regular basis! Getting angry at work may get your heart rate up (more likely your blood pressure), but that’s not what I had in mind.  Same goes for that yelling at other cars in traffic thing.  Face it, they can’t hear you!!

Instead, get your heart rate up by adopting an exercise routine.  I know what you’re thinking, "I’ve tried this and I’ve tried that and nothing worked for me".  I can appreciate that . . . I’ve tried a couple of programs in the past that didn’t produce the outcomes I was looking for, but honestly, I was the problem.

I’d see a great infomercial and maybe even read some online reviews to convince myself that this product was going be the one that worked for me.  In the end, I failed because I simply didn’t commit to succeeding.

So to be sure that your journey to better health is successful, here are a few strategies that may be of use:

• Set Realistic Goals
  Be specific about what you want to accomplish and break it up into manageable pieces.  Give yourself some "easy" goals to accomplish immediately.  This is low hanging fruit.  Once you accomplish these items, you can use that confidence to tackle increasingly more challenging goals.
• Customize
  Make sure that the exercise routine you choose is a fit for your personality and interests.  You may be the loner type who can stay motivated working out at home alone.  You might be the type that requires social interaction and would therefore likely thrive in a class setting.  Or maybe you like engaging in activities (i.e. playing sports, hiking, etc), more than structured exercise.  Either way invest some time in devising a plan that will really work for you.
• Pace Yourself
  Integrate lifestyle changes in a moderate fashion.  That way you’ll be able to maintain the behavior once the initial emotional boost of starting down a new path fades.  If you can habitualize  the changes in a progressive manner, you’re going to be able to do them automagically .

Just do it already! 

2. Laugh Out Loud (LOL) As Often As You Can

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"Laughter is the best medicine".  Not too hard to argue with this one, just make sure you go all the way with it.  Don’t half step!  One thing I know for sure is that all of the people that are important in my life have a few things in common, one of which is the ability to make me laugh.  Turns out, this is like a major requirement!  I require laughter and the more it hurts the better!  If you can’t make me laugh, you’re honestly of little use.

I was at a comedy show a few years ago (The Original Kings of Comedy) and there were times when I was literally crying and couldn’t breathe.  Cedric the Entertainer almost made me piss on myself.  That’s what I’m talking about!  Lose your inhibitions already and just let it all out!  You’ll be glad you did.  Apparently happy people live longer anyway.  Who knew?!

3. Be Grateful

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So let me ask you something . . . are you grateful?  I mean really grateful?  I’m not talking about the momentary "oh that’s so sad" feeling you get when one of those Feed The Children commercials comes on.  I’m talking real gratitude.  Here’s the test:  Is gratitude part of your everyday life?  Honestly, is it?

I used to think gratitude was something you showed when someone gave you something or when someone older than you reminded you of how much more fortunate you were compared to those people or those kids.

Don’t get me wrong, I do believe it’s important to show thanks, but real gratitude is an ongoing appreciation for all that is good in your life.  It’s even an appreciation for the negative things in your life, because there’s likely a lesson there for you.

"The warrior has no greater joy than to walk a path with a heart. On this path he walks, thrilled by the wonder of it all, and in his joy he gives thanks in his heart for this marvelous privilege by embracing everything he encounters with love and gratitude."

— Carlos Castaneda
Author and Shaman Philosopher

Having an attitude of gratitude opens the floodgates for the entry of more things for you to be grateful for.

4. Drink Better (and more) Water

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I could easily spark a debate here between those in the tap water camp vs. those who prefer bottled water.  Bottom line is that our bodies are 70% water so it behooves us to suck down the best stuff we can get our hands on.  I’m not saying you should go buy Evian or Voss or some other overpriced flask of H2O, but make sure that whatever you’re doing is a choice.

If you’re a tap water fan in the U.S., it might be helpful to know how your city ranks nationally for tap water quality (Provided by SustainLane.com).  On that site, you can also learn about how your city ranks in other statistical categories that directly impact your quality of life, like:  air quality, traffic congestion, adoption of green technologies, affordable housing and numerous other stats.

Regardless of your city’s ranking, there are many affordable filtration systems that can increase your tap water’s quality even more.  If you’re serious about filtration, you may want to also invest in shower head filters or whole house filtration systems.  After all, physically drinking water isn’t the only way it gets into our system.

If bottled water is your thing, know that not all bottled water is created equal.  Many brands push the same water coming out of your tap, they just wrap it in some pretty marketing.  You can’t drink marketing, but you can sure as hell pay for it.  Coca Cola’s Dasani and Pepsi’s Aquafina brands are two prime examples of effective tap water marketing in action.

So is bottled water pure or just pure hype?  Here’s some food water for thought.

The choice is yours . . . drink better water!

5. Eat Better Food

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Every once and I while, I’ll be in the midst of a conversation with one of my best friends (who was my roommate in college), and we’ll marvel at the crazy things we used to do.  One such thing was eating Big Macs . . . three or four of them in one sitting.  We used to walk down to the McDonalds Express and eagerly take advantage of their 99 cent special, thinking that somehow we were getting a deal.  We’d wolf down four at a time and not gain an ounce.

I don’t know how we did it.  I mean, I understand why we didn’t gain weight . . . we were young and had fantastic metabolisms!  But how the hell did we eat so much?  What I do know is that eating too much food is something I still struggle with today.  Now there are all kinds of programs (like Weight Watchers) that attempt to combat the buffet mentality that plagues the United States.  Unfortunately, the reason this is such a struggle, especially for a growing number of youth, is that it’s just not a fair fight.

It turns out that many food companies add food additives that increase appetite and have addictive properties (among other nefarious characteristics).  These additives, many of which are known as excitotoxins, are in most of the food and drinks sold at fast food restaurants and in grocery stores today.  Monosodium Glutamate (MSG), which makes everything taste better and Aspartame, the no calorie, doesn’t my Diet Coke taste good sweetener, are two of the worst offenders.

So what do we do?  Well like in most things, we can’t just talk about quantity, we have to also shift our focus to quality.  One way to increase the quality of our food is to decrease our intake of prepackaged foods, especially those that contain MSG or any of its aliases.  Another strategy is to consume meats, fruits, vegetables and grains that are in their natural, unprocessed state.

Organic foods are grown without the use of pesticides and brought to market without the addition of harmful food additives.  Organic meats are raised without hormones & other growth accelerants and usually slaughtered in a humane way.  These are foods in their most whole, nutrient rich form.  Organic foods are more widely available in the marketplace than ever.

Eat to live . . . don’t live to eat.

6. Take Care of Your Skin

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If you do a search on Google related to skin care, you’re bound to land on an article that discusses skin types (dry, oily, combo, sensitive, normal, etc.).  You’ll read about the benefits of sunscreen, exfoliation and moisturizing.  All good stuff I’m sure, but my take on the subject is a little different.  Plus I’m a guy so I’m sure my perspective is a little different anyway.

Here’s what I know . . . your skin is your body’s largest organ.  It’s our first line of defense, preventing many of the infectious things floating in the air from wreaking havoc on our bodies.  On the other hand, when things do come in direct contact, it becomes a primary entry point for substances to interact with your various systems.  So take special care with what you put on your skin.  You’d be amazed at the toxicity of chemicals commonly used in every day personal care products.

Check this web site to see if the products you use have any known carcinogens (you know, cancer causing agents).  The site is really a wonderful resource.  It groups personal care products into the following categories:

• Makeup
• Skin Care
• Hair Care
• Eye Care
• Nail Care
• Baby Care
• Oral Care
• Fragrance

Then it gives each product in its database a rating based on how the ingredients in each product are linked to:

• Cancer
• Developmental/reproductive toxicity
• Violations, restrictions & warnings
• Allergies/immunotoxicity
• Other concerns

I personally use a lot of natural products.  Over the years I’ve been able to replace all the toxic products I used to use with natural alternatives.  Deodorant, lotion, soap, shampoo, toothpaste . . . everything.  Then I took it a step further by investing in household cleaners (laundry detergent, dishwashing liquid, general cleaners, etc.) made of natural substances.  The good news is that these days, there are so many choices.  I am fortunate to live in a city with several health food stores (Whole Foods being the big dawg).

Listen to your momma . . . Mother Nature in this case!

7. Meditate

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There’s all kinds of content out there that’ll teach you to meditate.  There are different methodologies/strategies as well as enough books, videos and audio programs on the subject to fill a library.

The real question is why should we meditate?  The answer is simple . . . we need it now more than ever!  Think about the moment you are in right now.  You are smack dead in the middle of the information age.  You’re sitting at a computer, spending time on the internet, reading this article.  I can see your whole setup . . . you have like twenty tabs open in three browser windows, with a couple of ebooks on the side, new email message notifications popping up and a couple of friends IMing you, like right now!  Plus there’s the Facebook updates, the YouTube video playing on the second screen, Tweets and your favorite playlist jammin’ in the background.  Oh and did I mention the 300 channels worth of stuff your basic cable subscription has given you access to?  OK, so maybe that was more confessional than prophetic, but you get the idea.

This is an unprecedented time in history.  We have access to more information than we can quantify.  Much like the stream of consciousness, we start in one place online and who knows where we’ll end up.  You can call this the clickstream of consciousness and it’ll take you to new & amazing places everyday.

So this is good right?  More information, more knowledge, greater access to a diverse array of stuff?  Right?  It is good, but we can’t let it dominate us.  It’s kind of like a child who’s eaten too much candy and washed it down with some chocolate cupcakes and a half gallon of "fruit" juice.  That sugar high is gonna be murder on the parents.  Good luck getting them to wind down for bed.

Meditation provides us with a break from the information high we find ourselves constantly on.  Our brain is like a big ole grey info-crack addict.  Meditation is like a peaceful detox.  We need that quiet space to reduce stress, refocus on what we want and increase our awareness.

"Enlightenment is meditation plus compassion."

— The Buddha
Spiritual Teacher and Founder of Buddhism

Peace be with you!

8. Have More Sex

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Let’s face it, sex is everywhere in our society these days.  In movies, tv shows, advertising, on the web . . . emanating from the wall that separates you from that couple in the apartment next to you.  You can’t escape it!  But really, why would we want to?

Now I’m sure there’s some health benefit to the big smile on your face when you’re all done having sex; turns out there are some, err . . . better documented health benefits.  The bottom line is that we’re designed for it and the physical and chemical effects rejuvenate us.  Thanks to the folks at WebMD, here are a few of the many wonderful benefits:

• Sex Relieves Stress
  One of the biggest health related benefits of regular sex is a reduction in blood pressure and stress levels.
• Sex Boosts Immunity
  Having sex once or twice a week has been linked with higher levels of an antibody called immunoglobulin A or IgA. This antibody helps protect you from getting colds and other infections.
• Sex Burns Calories
  Thirty minutes of sex burns 85 calories or more. It may not sound like much, but it adds up. A vigorous bout burns some 200 calories. This is about the same as running 15 minutes on a treadmill or playing a spirited game of squash. Muscular contractions during intercourse work the pelvis, thighs, buttocks, arms, neck and thorax. Sex also boosts production of testosterone, which leads to stronger bones and muscles.
• Sex Increases Blood Flow
  When we are aroused our blood starts pumps at a quicker rate and, thus, blood flow to our brain increases. The fresh supply of blood pumping through your body provides the organs with a healthy dose of oxygen and rids the body of old and wasteful products.
• Sex Keeps You Young
  Sex keeps you looking and feeling younger. Research alco indicates that sex may lead to shiny hair, a glowing complexion and bright eyes. This is because sex increases the youth-promoting hormone DHEA.
• Sex Improves Intimacy
  Having sex and orgasms increases levels of the hormone oxytocin, the so-called love hormone, which helps us bond and build trust. Higher oxytocin has also been linked with a feeling of generosity. So if you’re feeling suddenly more generous toward your partner than usual, credit the love hormone.
• Sex Reduces Pain
  As levels of the hormone oxytocin increases, endorphins increase, and pain declines. In women, sex also prompts production of estrogen, which can reduce the pain of PMS.

  Source:  WebMD

Now I wouldn’t be doing my civic duty if I didn’t express the necessity for you to protect yourself.  So do your duty and have more sex . . . just make sure you do it safely!

9. Love More

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Human beings are an emotional bunch.  We experience a wide array of emotions and find ourselves in all kinds of emotional states and situations.  My car was stolen recently and I think I might have discovered a couple of new emotions during that process.  C’est la vie.

Even though emotions are incredibly complex, here’s a simple lens we can use to think about them a little differently.  Let’s declare that all positive emotion is rooted in love and all negative emotion in fear (more on that later).

Now I know you might not really buy that, but let’s just pretend anyway.  See if you can trace all the positive feelings you have about someone or something, to love.  Go ahead, try it.

How’d it turn out?  I bet you could reduce every positive feeling you have about whatever, to love.  It’s a beautiful common denominator isn’t it?  So how do we love more?

To really answer that, we have to better understand what love is.  At its most basic essence, love is giving.  Giving our support, attention, friendship, affection, energy, time, money, passion. . . everything.  To love more, we must be more giving.  In doing so we fill our lives with relationships and interactions that are more loving to us.

Now take it to the next level.  Do you really love the things you spend your time doing?  Probably a mixed bag, huh?  Some things yes, some things not so much.

Now let’s turn it inward.  Do you love yourself?  Do you give to you?

If we can improve and increase our love for ourselves, our love for others and our love in all we do, our lives will be profoundly impacted.

10. Don’t Be Afraid

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We are socialized to be fearful.  We get it from our friends & families, from the media, from our failures . . . everywhere.  Then before you know it, your mind kicks in, keeps the ball rolling and your life becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. 

Fear is one of the most insidious obstacles to a healthy life.  Our fear manifests itself in many different forms.  We often talk ourselves out of trying something new or convince ourselves that pursuing a particular course of action isn’t worth it, because we are afraid.

"Do the thing that you are afraid to do, and the death of fear is certain."

— Whitney Young
American Civil Rights Leader

In many cases, we talk ourselves out of being ourselves.  We adopt someone else’s views, behaviors and hangups and then spend our lives wondering who the hell we are!  The greatest gift you can give to this world is the truest, most authentic you.

Otherwise you’re on a road that leads to regret, pain and numerous other negative emotions.  When we associate these emotions with our existence, we reinforce their presence in our lives.  It’s pretty sad, but none of us are immune.

What we can do is raise our awareness and really try to get to the root of the fear.  We experience anger, jealousy, hate, anxiety, doubt, self pity, apathy and many other fear based emotions all the time.  If we can accept that fear is at the root of all of these feelings, then we have some clues for what to do next.

We have to be honest with ourselves to determine which fear these emotions are based on.  I’ve been digging for emotional gold for much of this year and have uncovered a couple of nuggets.  It’s not an easy process and I don’t ever expect to finish, but once you’ve had an "ahh hah" moment, you feel like that load of bricks you carry on your shoulders is a couple bricks lighter.

This year I’ve discovered some childhood events that previously seemed harmless (when casually flipping through pages in the book of memory), were actually deeply impacting my present day relationships & emotional abilities.

When you experience breakthroughs like this, it’s important not to look at those past experiences for the purpose of placing blame on ourselves or others, but rather with the eagerness and focus you would use if you were working on a new 1000 piece puzzle.  You’d take your time, look for patterns, get lucky a few times,  step away from it regularly, but ultimately feel a sense of accomplishment once you were all done . . . knowing that you had solved something and it would no longer challenge you.

When we limit fear’s reach, our outlook on this world is greatly broadened and our possibilities unlimited!

To Your Health!

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Though I had a few teachers along the way who cared about me and challenged me, the vast majority were mere cogs in the system.  They pushed me along, urging me to focus my attention and sense of value on how I did on a test.  Then as I approached the last phase of the educational production cycle (i.e. end of high school), I was urged to choose from this stock set of professions so that I could pick the right college and therefore have the right life.  I remember the list being something like this:

I don’t ever remember someone saying "do what you love", "find your passion" or "what do you think?".  It’s amazing how living has broadened my awareness of the many various types of professions in existence.  Some of them didn’t exist when I was in high school (like web designer, my current one), but so many did and I just had no idea they existed.  Ahhh, the bliss of youthful ignorance.

An Alive Mind

Now I’m in my thirties and the ebb and flow of life has led me to discover many personal truths.  I had an experience a few years back where I had the opportunity to speak with some teenage kids who had some disciplinary problems, but had started down a positive path through involvement in a change program.  I’m not really sure why I was asked to speak, my life has been pretty ordinary by most mainstream measures.  So any way, I got up there in front of them (about 40 kids, plus adults), not really knowing what to say, thinking that what I wanted to convey most was the importance of using critical thinking to make good choices.  Looking back at it now, I know that I was conveying the power and value of an alive mind.

So after rambling on for a while, noticing that the crowd was becoming weary, I changed things up and introduced a short game:  The Value Game.  The next few paragraphs are a reenactment of sorts.

The Value Game

So everyone, let’s change things up a bit and play a game.  Here are the rules:

1.  I’ll ask two questions.
2.  In order to respond, you must raise your hand.
3.  The first person to answer a question correctly, gets a prize
4.  Adults cannot participate in this part of the show, though you’ll have an opportunity a little later.

So let’s begin!

Question 1:
What is the name of the artist and the song for this music clip?  (I held my smartphone up to the microphone and played a short clip of a hip hop song that was popular at the time).

Here’s the clip if you want to share your guess in the comments

Almost instantly, dozens of hands went up!  I called on one youngster and the individual answered correctly.  I invited that student to come up to the podium, to await their prize and proceeded to question two.

Question 2:
Before asking the second question, I mentioned that anyone who needed to, could come up to the chalkboard behind the podium to work out the answer.  What is 67 times 13?

There was a pause in the room.  A few students came up to the board and after a couple minutes there was a correct answer.

Then I had the two correct answer givers remain at the podium and I presented them with their prizes.  I gave $1 to the youngster who answered the first question correctly and $20 to the student who answered the second question correctly.  Both were excited and everyone clapped.  I then invited them to return to their seats. 

After the room calmed down a bit, I posed a question to the entire room (adults included) and mentioned that there wasn’t really a correct answer to this question.  "What were we comparing here?", I asked.

Another pause . . . a couple of hands went up and these are the responses that were offered:

• Hip Hop vs Mathematics
• You can make more money in math & science than trying to be a rapper
• Study more vs listening to so much music (this was an adult response)

Now was the moment of truth.  Life had come full circle.  I was now presented with a similar opportunity to the one my high school guidance counselor had responded so poorly to.  I had the opportunity to leave them with something broader to ponder.  To be the turning point in their lives.  OK enough with the dramatics . . . here’s what I said.

I thanked everyone for their responses and participation and left them with this thought.  Comparing hip hop and math is like comparing peanut butter and shoestrings or batteries and soap or airplanes and vitamins . . . each can be meaningful or useful in your life, but it really doesn’t make much sense comparing them.  My hope in this game was to compare a person’s ability to recall and repeat something they’ve heard before with a person’s ability to think and solve a problem they don’t know the answer to.  In my estimation it is 20 (maybe 100) times more valuable to be able to solve problems, because life will present you with challenges that your parents, siblings, friends and teachers can’t prepare you for.  In those moments you’ll have to leverage your own ability to think critically to create solutions.  Stay strong and use your brain (two of my dad’s favorite sayings).

Here’s a great quote that’s right on target!

"Most people never think, they simply exercise the mental faculty of memory."

- James Arthur Ray
Creator of Harmonic Wealth®

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3. 16 Four Letter Words That’ll Change Your Life! Word #3 Ahhh, four letter words!! What a gift to the spoken...