My Covid Survival Guide

This just in: It’s been more than seven weeks since I got on a plane. This is the longest period of time for me that this has happened for the last 30 years. I travel a lot and now, being stuck at home, I have to find a way to survive.

Here are a few things that I am doing. I’m not saying you should do them as well but…they work for me.

Routine: I have things that I make myself do every day. I don’t want to simple sink into my couch, eating Coco Puffs and watching reruns of Leave It To Beaver. To make sure I do something, I have, of course, a list. I have 20 things to do every day and my goal is to do at least half of them. My list includes things like spending time learning a second language on Duolingo (an app that I strongly recommend). Reading a book is on my list as is writing a story or a blog post. I pick up a guitar and strum it a bit (that’s all I know how to do) and then I get credit for advancing my guitar skills. If I go to the driving range (which is now allowed), I get a check on my list. At the end of the day, I should be able to look back and say, “Today, I did something worthwhile.”

Exercise: This is a tough one. For me, I have three keys things that define my exercises: (1) It has to be something I can do easily so I don’t find an excuse not to do it (2) It can’t hurt my “old man” back and (3) I pace myself. So, every day I either do pullups or pushups. Every day I do core work and yoga (these help my back). Every day I ride my stationary bike for 25 minutes and walk at least 4 miles. I try to never over do exercise. My natural tendancy is to do just a little more every day. However, if I do that, I’ll eventually get to the point where there is too much to do and I won’t do it. So, I pace myself and stop when I plan on stopping even if I think I can do more.

Food: If you know me, you know I love food. When I have a lot of time on my hands, my mind naturally defaults to “A donut would be nice right about now.” So, I do a few things to fight this. First, my list of things to do includes one thing “Not to Do.” I actually get a check on my list for not eating anything sweet. Secondly, I track my weight and if I come in at over 200 lbs, I have to record that figure in red. For some reason, I find it motivational to try and not have any red numbers in this list. Thirdly, I use a smaller plate for meals whenever possible. Avoiding dessert has very little impact if you eat 5,000 calories a day of other stuff that is not considered dessert.

Relationships: We all need time to ourselves as do our spouses. Years ago, my wife and I came to an agreement about CAVE TIME. At any time, either one of us can say, “I need some cave time.” This is a way of saying, I just want to be left alone for a bit. There is nothing bad about it. It’s not saying, “I don’t want to be around you”…instead, its saying, “For now, I just want to be around myself.” When one of us wants cave time, it is immediately granted without question and no hard feelings are ever incurred.

Binge TV: I watch the morning new and the evening news and then I binge. I have Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hulu. The Hulu package costs half as much as my Direct TV package and offers more channels and services.

Fear: The future is unknown. Thus, we can make up whatever we want to make up about what may happen. We each get to choose what we want to let occupy our minds. If you choose to be fearful of the future, fine. However, I recommend realizing that you are afraid of something that has not yet happened. Want to get out of that Fear Rut? Make a gratitude list. My experience is that you can’t be grateful and fearful at the same time.

Now…gotta go save the world.

Up, up and away…
Jim

The right side of History

This just in: I’ve decided to take a look into my crystal ball (all superheroes have one) and let you know what I see.

At some point in the future, hopefully not too distant, I see the following…

  1. People marvel at the idea of discrimination against people due to their sexual orientation. In fact, they rejoice at the variety of choices they freely indulge in without judgement.
  2. Religion as a “matter of faith” has been completely abandoned as a mainstream practice. It is replaced by science-based searches into “who we are” and “why are we here?”
  3. The color of one’s skin is celebrated as a contribution to the highly valued concept of “Diversity.”
  4. All people, regardless of sex, sexual orientation, beliefs, intellect, wealth, education, heritage, location of birth and every other trait, are considered equally valuable to society and welcomed equally everywhere.
  5. Fact-checking is so instantaneous and widely accepted that News Agencies and Politicians have completely abandoned attempts to mislead.
  6. Science matters.
  7. Protecting the Earth’s ecosystem is the top priority of every person; a priority instilled at the time of birth and maintained throughout one’s life.
  8. Hunger and poverty are so far in the rear view mirror that they have become the stuff of scary stories told around campfires; Stories that scare us and then make us laugh because they are so unlikely.
  9. Freedom from fear is a mantra. The people of the world recognizes this as a wind that blows through all of us. We actively work together to help each other through this when it’s our time in the breeze.
  10. There is no more war; no more guns. Disagreements are worked through with thought and integrity. Violence is eliminated as the proverbial “last resort.”

There you have it. Just a peek. Reading back through all of these, I find #9 to be the most likely precursor to the others. So long and we have unbridled fear, we will behave like the barbarians whose DNA is still strong in all of us.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim

“Let there be fear!” – Republican Platform

This just in:  I first went snorkeling in the Philippines. Having just been stung by a jellyfish, my assumption was that everything in the water wanted to kill me.  So, I put on this mask which only let me see what was straight ahead.  I ended up swivelling my head back and forth the entire time.  I was afraid of what I couldn’t see.  I was afraid of the unknown.

I’ve carried this experience with me for decades.  I use it in my professional life where I am a Change Agent.  I have found that people resist change, in large part, because they “know” the current situation while the new situation is “unknown.”  When I educate them and take away the “unknown”, I also take away the fear and resistance.

This brings me to the Republican Platform; a platform which can be summarized in the following way: “Create fear and fight any information that would take that fear away.”

A prime example is the issue of immigration.  Yes, we should not let illegal immigrants into the country.  This doesn’t mean that we need a wall.  This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t find ways to make it easier or faster for people to enter our country.  In fact, if we are to continue our economic growth, we need immigrants by the millions.

Republicans say, “Democrats want open borders.”

Republican say, “The caravan coming up from Mexico is filled with terrorists, gang members and diseases like leprosy.”

Republicans send 5,000 troops to fight off the caravan.

If people knew the truth, none of this would matter.  The caravan is made up of less people than it takes to fill a high school football stadium.  It’s made up of women and children.  When they get to the border, they will have the same rights that every other person has when they come to our country.  5,000 troops is about one soldier per child.

This is easy information to research.  Get online and look it up.

The problem is, too many Republicans are hearing what they want to hear and therefore look no further for answers.  They want Non-Whites out of the country and if they need to fear this caravan to justify that…then that is what they will do.

This same fear is applied elsewhere.  We drop out of trade agreements because, “They are unfair and the world is ripping us off.”  This is nonsense but…creates fear.

We keep Muslims from entering the country to appease the Conservatives (those that long for a pretend history of white and Christian America) and we use fear of terrorism to justify this.

The Far Right (A combination of Republican and Red Bull) send out pipe bombs and shoot up a synagogue.  Republicans see that this is causing fear so they immediately say, “Democrats are blowing themselves up so that you will blame Republicans.”

Trump has said that without his guidance, the United States will turn into Venezuela.  That is fear.

Trump calls the press an Enemy of the State.  This is an attempt to keep you from reading and thus believing any narrative that didn’t come from him.  He wants you to be fearful and knows that knowledge will make that more difficult.

My recommendation is twofold.  First…read a book.  If you want to understand tariffs, watch a couple of youtube videos on the issue.  If you want to understand the Fed and interest rates, take 15 minutes and you’ll understand.  If you want to find out about the world…watch a combination of sources.  If you want to know what the Republicans are doing about healthcare…it’s all online.

Secondly…vote.  I truly believe that if everyone in American understood the Republican stance on any issue, they would turn away from them.  Well…almost all.  There are white Nationalists that understand Trump completely and he is their man.

Time to save the world.

Up, up and away…

Jim