Paradox Is A Word Bloggers Use

The past six or eight weeks have been among the more challenging of my life and there is nothing saying that the next set will be substantially better.

I am well aware that last line begs the question about whether they could go the opposite way and be far worse and the answer is of course they could.

It wouldn’t be particularly hard for them to be worse but my approach to life isn’t based on being pleased when life surpasses my low expectations.

Nor is it based upon being disappointed when my high standards aren’t met.

If you really want to know what sort of bedrock lies beneath the foundation of my beliefs you’ll have to pay for the course I am writing called Paradox Is A Word Bloggers Use.

How Many Posts Must One Man Write?

The answer to that question isn’t blowing in the wind nor will you find it by knocking on heaven’s door.

Yeah, I know that sort of insouciant response is positively fourth street but my friends you aren’t reading this for any other reason than my witty repartee and insight on parenting.

Or maybe not.

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A couple of of days ago I found a paper I wrote in my 12th grade English class. Mr. Wilf gave me an A and said it was well done but that I took myself a little too seriously.

I almost went looking for him on Facebook to demand he reconsider his words and ask for a new grade.

I figured that he would be thrilled to be questioned about a grade he gave 29 years ago and would be pleased to see that his assessment of me was correct.

In case it’s not obvious I didn’t do it and though I can be very serious about many things I don’t have time to be worried about that.

What Do You Have Time To Be Worried About?

One of the guys asked me if it ever gets old being “a crazy and intense middle aged man.”

I laughed and said if I identified as being middle aged I might deign to answer but since I am not I have no comment.

Had I already written this post I would have asked him to read the quote in the picture below and told him experience has proven that it is a solid mantra to maintain and follow.

What I Learned From The Walking Dead

I reluctantly started following/watching The Walking Dead three years ago.

It wasn’t because I had heard it was good but because I was walking on the treadmill at the gym in my complex in Fort Worth and I didn’t have the remote.

Dumb luck put me in their in the middle of a marathon and since I didn’t want to pause my workout to find something else to watch I spent the next two hours or so watching Rick Grimes and company deal with the zombie apocalypse.

Somewhere in between the sweat and exercise induced Adrenalin rush I started thinking about what life would be like if society broke down and how I would provide for my family.

Long time readers won’t be surprised to hear that included heavy thought on how many zombies I would kill and the best way to do it.

I may not have a body built for grace but I definitely have one that is particularly suited for moving heavy objects and destruction.

Man, I could do so some real damage there…just to zombies. I’d be the guy protecting humans, unless you are the Governor, Negan or a Wolf and then I’d take you down hard.

But I digress.

In a relatively recent episode one of the characters shared the quote below and I fell in love with it.

Remember that line about paradox being a word that bloggers use?

Well sometimes I read posts some bloggers write and wonder if they are still trying to impress their high school English teachers with their vocabularies.

Sometimes I wonder if they have forgotten to write in a more conversational style that makes their content easy to consume and more likely to be shared.

The sharing part is really important because if you want to prove you are a really important and influential blogger you have to show that lots of people share your stuff.

It helps if you can show that lots of people comment on your posts too.

Sorry, I shouldn’t bring in the snark or talk about how some people wish they could be the world’s most brazen content marketer and social media guru. 😉

Back To The Walking Dead

Remember way back at the top when I said recent times haven’t been as smooth and easy as I would like them to be?

Well that Walking Dead character that shared the Latin quote above made this time easier because I took it, looked back at the things I have been through and found moments that I could apply to this time.

In simple terms I looked back upon past pain and saw the beginning, middle and end of each moment and figured that I could take what I learned from those times and apply it to the present.

You could say I approached it like the stone cutter and kept moving forward not knowing which blow would shatter the stone but that eventually it would break and things would improve.

The Not Quite Final Word

There is a Ted talk about how to make hard choices that resonates with me. I like it because it helps remind me that hard choices aren’t always based upon deciding between things of equal weight and value.

A while back I told my teenager the paradox of trying to make well reasoned and thoughtful decisions is that sometimes you just don’t have hard data to use so it doesn’t matter how much time you spend thinking.

There are some dilemmas that cannot be solved in advance and can only be figured out through experience.

You either do or do not, there is no try.

What do you think?