Dan the Man

About three weeks ago, I sent a letter to one of my favorite podcast hosts, Dan Miller, about my situation with trying to be successful in this line of work, never really expecting any sort of an answer when to my surprise he actually read the letter on the air. He gave me some terrific props and compliments, as well as pointers on how to capitalize on my endeavors. The cartoon above is one he mentioned specifically. Anyone can do whatever they want for me but if they giggle at my one of my drawings, then that's the ultimate compliment.

 

Yes Regrets

Bumper Stickers Not withstanding

Dan Pink is the author of The Power of Regrets where he points out the value of learning from our regrets. So often, we see in today's world, in the form of bumper stickers, t-shirts, social media etc, phrases such as " no regrets" or "no pain" and everyone's favorite "no fear", but the fact of the matter is that regrets. fears and pain in life are real for everyone and it makes us who we are. Anyone who claims to have none of these emotions are one of two things: a liar or a psychopath.

The key to coping with these emotions is not to avoid them or hide them but instead to examine and learn from them the same way an athlete would watch game film to learn how to be better next time.

What You Don't Do

In his research for the book, Pink found the great majority of regrets are not for what people have done but actually from what people haven't done. So, remember that the next time you want to make a decision. 

 

I'm All About That Bass

I'm All About that Bass is a song I once heard by the Post Modern Jukebox about full bodied women and even though I'm not sure what the significance of it being in the above pen and ink sketch is, I thought of doing it anyway. Actually I may have more of a tendency to prefer more treble in music than bass but I wanted to stay faithful to the song.  

 

Many Miles to Go

There is a timeline to success. No one lives forever and as a younger man I felt I had so much time to do the right things and there was no hurry so I procrastinated. Now, not so much. The fact that I've waited and waited now leaves me with precious little time to do the things I was meant to do and now I find myself in situations that, if I had not wasted time earlier, I could utilize would be success not just for the benefit of myself but for others. I find myself playing an uphill of "catch up".

I don't know if I'm going to see the fulfillment of my idea destiny before the end but that's the very reason I must continue as though my life depends on it.

 

One Year Twenty Times

If you could go back in time and talk to yourself at twenty years of age, what would you tell yourself? This is a hypothetical game people well over 20 years of age sometimes play which is more mental blather than something anyone takes very seriously. I've seen it as a time waster on social media or sometimes as an icebreaker for a small group. I have to admit it's something on which I've pondered more seriously as I've aged but I often find the more common answers to be rote, predictable and common.

I've considered the question often enough to come up with a variant. If today, I got a visit from myself twenty years from the future, what would my future self say to me today?

I think this idea may have something to do with what Albert Einstein called a thought experiment. What would my older self tell me today? Better still, if not a little darker, if today I mysteriously visited myself on my deathbed, in the future, the last day of my life, what would the dying me say to the younger me? 

I'm considering being Santa Clause during this year's holiday season and it's prompted me to think of myself on my deathbed. Would I regret being Santa or would I be happy about not doing it? Would my old self from the future say to me "do Santa" or would my old self say "playing Santa is stupid"?

I may as well ask myself many, many more questions about taking chances, risking failure, being uncomfortable or inconvenienced for the sake of a more meaningful and purposeful life. 

Fortune favors the bold.

Shut Up and Draw is a book I wrote recently which is full of humorous art and stories about how I came to be a cartoonist. It's available on Amazon. Just click here

Do Something

As I said in yesterday's blog, doing hard things eliminates most of your competition but 95% of everybody, even if they vow to do something, change their minds in short order. It's not unlike a new year's resolution to loose 25lbs but when  it comes down to changing eating habits and exercising, most people are unwilling to put in the work. It's too hard.

 

The Secret to Good Cooking

If I do something then I've eliminated most of my competition. Most people want to write a book. Most people want to start their own business. There are many things most people want to do but never get around to it.

My father was a career fireman but it wasn't originally what he wanted to do. He regarded his job as a fireman as only temporary until he found something better but that never happened. He freely admitted it so it wasn't like he was oblivious and for that matter, most people are aware of how time slips away. A very common statement is "where did the time go".

It all comes down to the matter of displaying the behavior required to have the things for which we pray. If we have ideas, talent, a skill or any of the other ingredients it takes to make our life meaningful then what more can we ask? God isn't going to wave a magic wand and make what we want. It takes some work.