John R Williams: Hard Mean Newness

Discoveries:

This year I discovered that hard work pays off, it just takes a while. I finally got a nod I was looking for careerwise and now I’m excited to tackle a new set of challenges. My outlook is bright and filled with possibilities. Sometimes a new job will do that for you. I guess I should formally call it a career because according to Merriam-Webster the length of time defines the role as being either a job or career. That’s an interesting concept. What if time was the defining factor for all the tough decisions we had to make in life? Are we an aimless academic or a super student? Are we an aspiring artist or a pathetic painter? Time can and will tell.

UTTERLY AWESOME LINKS-OF-THE-WEEK

http://www.starbucks.com/coffee/k-cup

http://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html

High Points:

I purchased a new car, it was time. As much as I liked the street credit my cream-colored 300 afforded me the car was on its last leg. I surpassed the one-hundred and fifty thousand mark, my interior smelled like cigars and my trunk was filled with tons of things I didn’t need or want. In fact, I was puzzled at why a two year old bag of M&M’s and some McDonalds fries were still

In edible shape. Grant it the fries were as solid as a rock but still. In the end I decided to get something foreign. I invested in a crossover vehicle that looks like a radical wagon with lots of ground clearance. The car came loaded with the options and features I wanted and it has been serving me well!

TEN REASONS TO GET BREAKDOWN AND GET A NEW CAR

1. Your car (literally) broke down

2. It smells like gasoline or garbage can juice

3. You and the family outgrew your current car

4. You get single digit gas mileage

5. The cost of repairs equal a sizeable down payment towards your next car

6. Its tax time and you have extra!

7. You negotiated a phenomenal deal

8. Somebody else is willing to cosign

9. Your family is depending on you for ride everywhere

10. You prayed on it and God put yes in your spirit

Themes for the Day:

“In a sense the car has become a prosthetic, and though prosthetics are usually for injured or missing limbs, the auto-prosthetic is for a conceptually impaired body or a body impaired by the creation of a world that is no longer human in scale.”

― Rebecca Solnit, Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Low Points

I was a meanie the first half of January. I let the stress get to me and render my statements sharp to the ones I care about most. Between work, school, parenting and life I was a wreck. I had roughly four adolescent worthy meltdowns. If I could have stepped outside of myself and tapped myself on the shoulder I would have told John to cool it. I prayed and eventually I did. Nonetheless, it’s tough being a standup guy when sometimes you want to sit down.

DAILY INSANITY:
Three Words: Well Why Not?
Do I really need to explain this to you? Since my last post I was that “why not?” guy. I expect that it’s because I have convinced myself that I can convince anyone. Nothing is more powerful than belief, even more powerful is the belief in possibility. With confidence comes expectation. Couple that with faith and anything is conceivable.

BUZZ WORD: REQUIEM

Definition: a Mass for the repose of the souls of the dead.