"He who rejects change is the architect of decay. The only human institution which rejects progress is the cemetery." - Harold Wilson
Please understand, my faithful readers, that
Blockhead does not wish to encourage complacency
with the verbiage I used in my last blog. However, if you find yourself “standing
on the river bank of the If Only River” as Max Lucado depicts in his book, then
it might be time to leave the rat race of materialism and become a pioneer roaming
the wide plains of Already.
It is to be understood that I do not approve of
spending your entire life suppressing your passion and serving a time clock. It
saddens me to think back to a particular scene at the beginning of the movie October Sky, where we observe coal
miners for the ‘hoot-owl’ shift making their way into the abyss by access of
the wooden elevator. The camera captures an elderly miner listening to his
hand-held radio reporting Sputnik’s
visibility in the next 24 hours over the United States. With eyes full of hurt
and longing, he turns on his helmet light and faces another night of futile, unfulfilling,
and dangerous work…
Blockhead can honestly identify with the teacher
in the story of October Sky,
Miss Riley. Her line in the conversation with her principal went as follows: “How
about I believe in the unlucky ones? I have to, Mr. Turner, or I’d go out of my
mind.” I will pour into others’ talents, ESPECIALLY my students, more sometimes
that I pour into my own, and will continue to do so for my entire career. Yet,
I have had the privilege several times during the Thanksgiving break to sit
down and write blogs again. I used to blog quite often at a time when MySpace
made the world go ‘round instead of Google and Facebook, etc.
Reading non-fiction books also sparks my haste to
blog, as well. From the time I was leaving the Navy to rejoin the civilian
world again, the last port I visited on the USS Pearl Harbor was Seal Beach to load
our ship’s arsenal for the next Western Pacific deployment coming up. It was at
this particular port, wandering through Barnes and Noble, where I began my
civilian library. The first two books I purchased to start Blockhead’s library
was Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money
Makeover and No One Would
Listen: A True Financial Thriller by Harry Markopolos which is an
EXCELLENT audiobook through Audible and has won several audio awards (use this
link and 5% of your purchase goes to the Runnin’ Free Ranch 😉)
Another one I have on my bookshelf that does not
allow my creativity to be stifled is Dan
Miller’s book, No More Mondays:
Although this author sanctions contentment, he does
not condone complacency. Miller writes about allowing your deepest passion to
direct you to profitable work and constructively equips the reader to channel
your God-given creativity in ways that will make you more marketable. It hit me
right between the eyes when he speaks of the systematic ways our schools teach
kids today to obtain a meager paycheck:
“As children, we learn
that, if we go by the rules, do what we’re told, we will be rewarded…Naturally,
these lessons prepare us for a paycheck mentality. Show up for work, don’t make
waves, and put in your time. With these skills you can get a paycheck, but you
probably won’t be equipped for the revolution in the workplace that will
liberate you from the old way of working: mind-numbing and often poorly paid
production – and knowledge-based work models.”
So, my question to my readers at the conclusion of this blog is simple: are you satified with Contingency or are you ready to position yourself for long-term success in the realm of Ingenious?
Lastly, in the spirit of Black Friday I have two links I am providing my readers (hopefully, you have already used the link to buy No One Would Listen or any of these books through the Amazon link above to help out the Runnin' Free Ranch): the first is a link to Monat hair products. I have been using this with my wife at the house and we LOVE, LOVE IT! See the Black Friday deals Danielle can help you with today:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10156016626013631&set=a.297211698630.147677.665823630&type=3
Also, go to KoaCoffee.com and use this promo code at checkout: SECRET20
** Just for today, Blockhead can get you Black Friday savings up to 20% off Kona Coffee, plus free shipping on $49. Follow the link below:**
Peace,
-YFB
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