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Contingency or Ingenious?

"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 😉)

https://smile.amazon.com/ch/47-4615353

Another one I have on my bookshelf that does not allow my creativity to be stifled is Dan Miller’s book, No More Mondays:

Image result for no more mondays dan miller

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

https://hairbydani.mymonat.com/


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:**

http://bit.ly/2xsg5De

Peace,

-YFB

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