What???

Are you kidding me??!!

This sign was seen in line for the Spider ride at Lagoon. We couldn't imagine how dumb someone had to be to have caused a need for this sign...but behold, Dave's (my brother) business partner told me he knows a kid who somehow...impaled his thigh on this fence. I shake my head in disbelief. oh goodness...

Another Bad Word

Here is a new word to add to my "bad words" list:

Suck - this one is a particularly bad one. It is a harsh sounding word and I just don't like it. I don't use it very much, but from now on, no more.

Update on Bad Words

Here is an update on my progress with Bad words:

Well, I have done a pretty good job of removing the words I chose from my language. My rubber band broke and I have been without it now for almost 2 weeks. I have done ok, but have slipped up a few times. I am surprised, though, because it hasn't been as bad as I thought. The hardest times are when I am upset/angry/frustrated, etc. Those times are when I tend to slip up the most.

I did find something very cool in the midst of this - Because I am committed to my language being corrected, I find it impacting my general behavior. For instance, one day while driving, I was upset about something, and said one of the words I committed not to saying. The second I said it, I caught myself and all of a sudden, I also found myself being able to catch my general mood and calm myself down. It helped me basically, "awake" from my anger and I was able to tell myself to calm down and see things a little different. It was pretty cool. After reflecting about this, I have made a realization - When we try to control things from the "top down", we often fail because it is too overwhelming (too many things fall apart like dominoes and can't easily be controlled). However, if we work backwards, we can often put the pieces back easier. In other words...

If I want to improve my patience, that is a big word and can impact so many things. It is too hard to recognize and control at a high level. However, if I pick out the symptoms I display for my impatience, I can make the goal to control my REACTION to my impatience. That, in turn, will awaken my mind to recognize I am being impatient and help me self-correct. This is a cool idea.

SO, I will have to now think of one area of my life that I want to improve, such as patience, then write down the symptoms I display when I am impatient. Next, I will treat those symptoms the same way (in general) that I do my language and see how that improves my ability to quickly self-correct and slowly improve my ability to be patient.

Hmmm, I really think there is something to this and there must be some interesting principle behind this that I can examine further. Ok, I will in the next few blogs as I add words and I think I will address my patience first. See you next blog post.

Progress and a few more words.

So, my quest to eliminate ugly/bad words is working. I am getting better and I have pretty much eliminated most of them from my language. One thing that worked for me was to not just have other people catch me, but I decided to put the rubber band to work. I put a thick one on my wrist and every time I catch myself, I snap it hard (really hard so it means something). I am usually much better at catching myself anyway. Also, I have noticed (as I thought I would be) that I am more sensitive to words that are said by others.

A co-worker, Andy, told me that he knew a guy who's rule with his kids was that if he could say a word, his kids could say it, no questions asked. Interesting thought. I mean, that expands the possible ugly/bad words to quite a few more. I think that is a good rule. Amy is already helping us clean up our language in the home by making sure we use softer and nicer words for things. I sure appreciate that in her.

So, it is time to add two more words. Here they are:

1) Freaking, Freakin', Freak, or any derivative of those words - I know this one may seem kind of lame, but honestly, those are pretty immature and unrefined words. So, out they go. Time to leave my teenage language behind.

2) Shut Up - I have actually been pretty good with this one for a while, but I want to totally eliminate it. It is a harsh way of talking and i don't want my kids saying this.

That's it for now...more to come as I improve.

Rules to Live and Lead by

So over the years, I have come up with a few rules by which I try to live my life. Here they are:

1) Do your homework
2) Follow up, follow up, follow up
3) Let the big picture guide the details
4) Have fun, cheer loud!
5) "Don't let what you can't do interfere with what you can do" - John Wooden
6) Always be willing and excited to try
7) Bridle your passions so that you can love people more than anything else
8) The methods we choose to solve a problem is as important as solving the problem itself.
9) Always have a reason to smile and occasion to laugh.
10) Get help, give all, and get a good therapist!
11) Communication is usually more important than action
12) What is perceived as truth is often more important than what is true.
13) Memory is not the sure proof of sincerity
14) Vision looks best when it's shared.
15) To get the best thing, you have to be willing to give up Your thing.
16) Humility is the purest sign of honesty.


So that's it for now. I'm sure I will add to these. Maybe I'll take some time to explain some of these...later.

A follow up to bad words...

Ok, so my attempt at removing bad words from my language is slowly making progress. I have made a few mistakes (all but one with the word, "crap"). However, no one has charged me money - I guess because I usually am the only one paying attention to it and only a few people know so far. I have decided to tell my family about it so that they can help keep me true.

One of my co-workers, John Lawton, said that during his LDS mission, his companion and he went 6 whole weeks working and and removed the word, "like", from their speech. wow, that would be a hard one. He said they used rubber bands on their wrists and had to snap themselves each time they said it. That might be more effective than the money deal... Not sure.

So, if you read this, please hold me accountable.

A Eulogy to Bad Words

Well, it's been a year...almost. SO WHAT. It's my blog. Ok, that said...

Since my last two entries were about words, it is appropriate that my post tonight is on, you guessed: WORDS.

I have been thinking a lot about words - particularly words I use. When I think about all the great people I know, especially the ones I view as great spiritual examples, I have made the observation that all of them have a few characteristics in common:

1) I never catch them saying negative things about others

and

2) They don't use bad language.

Now, since I might still insult people on occasion (and on purpose at times), I thought I would try to resolve the second issue. At the age of 33, I will now begin my journey towards clean and wholesome language. So, tonight I begin. I am going to create a list of words that I will forever say goodbye to (not going to use them again). Here it is:

A EULOGY TO BAD WORDS:

I would like to say good-bye to the following words, for the following reasons:

1) Retarded - I know too many wonderfully innocent and good mentally handicapped people to use this word anymore. Typically people use this as an insult, as to call someone stupid or to mean that something is dumb. Retarded is not dumb, it is a real and saddening reality and handicap for many people. I forever pledge to say good bye to using this word in a negative connotation.

2) Damn - well, it's a curse word and I use it sometimes, even just for fun. I can't see my most respected examples using that word.

3) Hell - same as Damn. I need to use this as it was originally intended only, as the name of where bad folks go when they die.

4) Crap - this is a hard one. I mean, what will I substitute this with? But, I must. it is a childish word that is a cheap substitute for another poo-related curse word. Ugh, this one will be hard.

5) Pissed - wow, I actually hate this word, but occasionally have used it. No more. It's crude and inappropriate.

Ok, that's good for now. It's a tall order. Here's the deal: If you hear me use one of those words, I owe you a quarter. Each time I say it, I owe you an additional quarter - in other words, the second time I owe you .50 cents and then .75 and so on, so that if I say it 3 times and you catch me all three times, I will owe you $1.50. Got it? ok, good. Good luck to me and happy hearing for you.